Run
by Bialy-ksiezyc
Summary: Five years went by and the Four Horsemen live now normal lives. But when Daniel is arrested by the FBI, his old friends understand they are also hunted. It's time for them to get together again.
1. Chapter 1

_**Titre :**_ Run

_**Synopsis :**_ Five years went by and the Four Horsemen live now normal lives. But when Daniel is arrested by the FBI, his old friends understand they are also hunted. It's time for them to get together again.

_**Disclaimer :**_ _Now You See Me_ doesn't belong to me. I write for fun and not for money.

* * *

**Foreword**

First of all, thank you for reading my story. I have to tell you that _Run_ is the English traduction of another story of mine I have recently started to write in French (it's called _Cavale_ if you're interested) because it's my mother tongue. Actually I realized there was only one other story in French about _Now You See Me_ and I thought that it would be very interesting to try to write mine in English. This is the first time I'm doing this. I've been learning this language for ten years now and you may find mistakes in my writings. Please, don't hesitate to tell me when I'm wrong so that I can correct it right away.

Thank you all and enjoy your reading !

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**Chapter 1**

Pacific Grove, on the Californian coast, in the middle of June. It was neither a hot day nor a cold one. To be honest, in this town where lived about sixteen thousands inhabitants, the temperature was rarely above 71,6°F. Although it wasn't very warm, Pacific Grove had so many other advantages. Henley loved this place : the Victorian houses, the sound of the waves hitting the rocks, the hundreds butterflies which came there to take shelter … It was a kind of heaven to her.

The first time she came, she was between eleven and twelve, her parents had taken her there for summer break but she didn't remind much of it. Yet she naturally recalled the town's name when she agreed to live with Daniel. Then, some months after that, they moved into a beautiful appartment near the ocean like a lovely young couple. The building's plum frontage was beautiful and pierced with large white windows. It had three floors so it overlooked all the other houses around. Henley and Daniel lived on the last one, in the attic. It wasn't too big but it was enough for them and also for the little girl they gave birth to, about two years before. Her name was Emmeline Ashley Mabelle Atlas, yet her parents were used to call her affectionately Emmie. She was a little brunette whose pretty face looked exactly the same as her mother's. And since she has arrived, Henley had thought that the Four Horsemen's great adventure was over for good.

However that day, though it was barely ten, something was about to prove her she was wrong. She had risen up early to take Emmie to her last required appointment with the pediatrician while Danny had decided to stay at the appartment to find work. Since they had gotten themselves talked about too much five years ago, the Horsemen had to be discreet. Officially, they weren't hunted. But unofficially, it was a bit different … Actually, Daniel thought he was good at only one thing : magic which he couldn't practice discreetly. His girlfriend had perfectly succeeded in transforming herself – she had become an employee at the closest realtor – but he managed to miss every opportunity and forget every job interviews he could. For a long time, his attitude had been a topic for their arguments but when Henley told him he was going to be a father, Danny started to realize he was acting like a child and it was time to grow up, especially because they were about to be three and a baby requested some money. Yet old habits die hard since nobody had wanted him in spite of all his motivation. He was always said to be too young, not qualified enough or too slow … But he was never discouraged. Henley liked that, she liked knowing he was making efforts for her or rather for the family they were forming. While she was leaving the clinic, she looked at the baby girl who were struggling in her arms laughing and she thought she had her father's keen and mysterious eyes. This discovery made her smile. _She is indeed Danny's daughter_, she thought kissing Emmie's pink cheek while the girl was too busy watching a cat climbing a tree to react. Henley put her down and, while holding her hand, she started to go back to their appartment. The toddler walked by her side and looked all around. She marvelled over everything she could see without noticing her mother was feeling enthusiastic to see her so happy. They went around the corner of the street together when a ringtone made them stop. Henley realized it was hers. She kneeled down near the little girl who were asking silently where this sudden noise was coming from. Once she had found the phone at the bottom of her bag, Henley took a look at the screen. The call was from Danny's phone. She picked it up.

« Danny ? »

She heard a sigh of relief on the other side of the line.

« Henley … are you still with the pediatrician ?

- No, we have just left.

- Okay. »

His voice seemed a little tensed. Something was wrong. She waved towards Emmie to stay quiet when the girl started to ask why they had stopped. As an answer, the little girl folded her arms and pretended to sulk. Nevertheless the young mother felt too worried by this strange call to notice it.

« Are you far from home ?

- We'll be there in two minutes.

- Alright, alright. »

Silence came back, it was more oppressive and scarier. Henley deeply felt something was wrong and Daniel wasn't his usual self. She couldn't say what was going on but she knew him enough to say he was acting strangely. Feeling uneasy, she took Emmie's little hand so that the girl stopped sulking right away. Her small bright eyes stared at her mother without knowing what was happening and asking herself thousands of questions she couldn't answer. She was far too young to guess. But Henley was starting to speculate quietly.

« Danny, is everything alright ?

- Yes of course. »

She was sure it was a lie. He could fool anyone with that kind of statement but not her. Yet she had the feeling insisting would have been a great mistake. Was he in danger ? Or more accurately, were they in danger ? She gulped nervously and thought it might have been time to hang up when she heard Daniel continuing :

« Hey … Henley ...

- Yes ?

- I love you. »

Her heart suddenly speeded up. He didn't have the habit to confess his feeling that way, without any reason and moreover, on the phone. She really started to feel frightened : she knows he was tensed and he was telling her he loved her … this situation looked a lot like the bad script of some Hollywood thriller movie. Henley looked at her daughter trying to get her little hand back. What was going on ? What should be done ? Daniel's voice brought her back to reality :

« Henley, don't come back ! Take Emmie with you and leave ! Leave quickly ! »

After that there was a kind of row and the phone was hung up right away. Henley didn't realize immediately what just happened. A few seconds went by and her face was showing nothing more than surprise. Then she threw the phone into her bag and lifted her daughter up since she believed she wouldn't be able to run when the time would come. Yet instead of running away as Daniel had ordered it, she hurried to the appartment knowing she could be caught too. The closer she was, the harder her heart beated. Her head started pounding pretty soon. She was sometimes hot, sometimes cold and then her muscles tensed up. She had just arrived at the corner of the street. Before the building, several black cars were parked and a number of men were waiting in front of the great door carrying guns and bulletproof vests with the acronym FBI on it. For a short time, Henley forgot to breath and held a daughter closer. All of a sudden there was a great noise inside and the door opened : other FBI agents came out taking Daniel Atlas with them. They were all walking with the head down when Daniel suddenly rose it up and looked briefly at his girlfriend. The latter believed for a second that he didn't notice her but then she thought about it and started to believe he had acted as if nothing had happened so that she wouldn't be caught. The young mother couldn't believe what was happening. Everything was fine until that day … The federal police wasn't after them anymore since a long time and yet, the agents were there, in front of her home, and they were taking away her lover, her other half. She slowly began to shake. Emmie noticed it, she slightly moved away from her mother and asked what was going on in a dubious English. However Henley didn't answer. She turned around and rushed in the other way, thinking about one thing : running away, running as far as she could go to escape the police and make herself sure she would never be separated from her child.

Daniel was handcuffed and sitting on the back seat of the car. He looked into the vehicle's rear-view mirror and saw her standing at the corner of the street holding Emmeline in her arms. How pretty was she … _Why is she still there ?_ he asked himself before she ran away. Then he let out a sigh since nobody had noticed her and let himself down on the back seat thinking about what he had been arrested for.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Titre :**_ Run

_**Synopsis :**_ Five years went by and the Four Horsemen live now normal lives. But when Daniel is arrested by the FBI, his old friends understand they are also hunted. It's time for them to get together again.

_**Disclaimer :**_ _Now You See Me_ doesn't belong to me. I write for fun and not for money.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_Mentalism is fantastic …_ thought Merritt McKinney while putting back his sunglasses on his face. He glanced at the two beautiful apparitions who were walking away and waving at him. That was so easy to use his ability on them, to reveal their little secrets and impress them. And it worked all the time ! Plus, the pretty young women who dared talking to him on Florida beaches were frequently strangers. And God knows Merritt loved strangers. Especially East Europeans because of their accent. _Molto bene_, he thought, _let's have a drink_. Thus he left the beach waving at the ladies who had enjoyed his talent and looked at their boyfriends' suspicious expression. The sun was burning his neck and calves, the sand slid between his toes. That was one hell of a wonderful day ! He crossed the road to go to the bar he were used to frequent since he arrived. Karl, the owner, had become a good friend of his. When Merritt pushed the bar's dor, he was behind his counter, busy serving his clients two or three beers. Karl waved him to come closer with a big smile.

« Dude, you're just in time ! I was about to forget.

- Forget what ?

- A chick came. She asked for you.

- For me ? »

Karl assented. He turned around to take the cocktail shaker on the shelf before finding a cocktail glass in the cupboard under his counter. The drink he was about to make was most likely for the yound blonde who was waving at him from a table she was sitting at with someone who must have been her partner. While making it, he said :

« Yes, a redhead with a baby. Someone called Hailey or Hadley, I forgot … I gave her your address. »

_Henley ? No, it can't be …_ said Merritt to himself. It had been five years now since the last time he had seen his old companions and he couldn't imagine one of them might be looking for him. He thanked Karl, renounced to have a drink here and stepped out of the bar to go home. On his way, he thought about what his friend has just said : a redhead with a baby. First he thought it couldn't be Henley, she didn't have children but he recalled very fast that much has happened since their last meeting. She had had all the time necessary to become a mother. He went through the entire town, unable to stop pondering it. This visit was confusing him as he didn't expect it to happen anymore, not after five years. Yet maybe he was wrong : what if the redhead wasn't the one he had been thinking about ? What if Henley was living somewhere else without thinking not even one second about the great adventure the four of them had lived together ? What if she had a lot of things in mind except visiting him ? By the way, unless she had made some research, she wouldn't have found him.

He glanced at a man who was reading the newspaper, leant against a wall. On the first page he could read about the investigation on the great robbery which had happened ten days earlier. Merritt learnt about it by watchin television one evening, it was quite a mysterious theft since the money had disappeared as if by magic, which had reminded him the crazy year he spent with the three magicians. Yet the comparison stopped there : nobody had claimed to be the culprit and the money weren't redistributed to anyone. Four days earlier, the police had officially announced they had caught a suspect but didn't reveal his identity. Moreover, everyone was surprised to learn that the journalists had failed in discovering any information about this man. Needless to say such a mystery aroused interest. Even Merritt himself was curious to know who was the man who had been detained for a few days already by the federal police. When he arrived in front of his house, he had almost forgotten why he was there. But he suddenly remembered : she was there, sitting on the stairs which led to the front door.

« Merritt ! » she called in hushed tones.

The little girl she was carrying was asleep. He came closer. It was indeed Henley. Her hair was slightly shorter, she had no make-up on and she seemed very tired but there was no doubt about it : Henley was really standing in front of him. Merritt was too much surprised to say a word. His eyes stared at the sleeping child, a little brown-haired girl with a pale skin who was sucking her thumb while cuddling up to the one who seemed to be her mother according to their great likeness.

« What a surprise ! Henley, what are you doing here ?

- It … it's a long story. Can we come in ? »

He did not insist and agreed.

While walking into the house full of darkness, Henley stated Merritt had not lost his habits : he was still pretty messy. She examined the walls and the ground as he was feeling around to find the switch. There was a kind of picture near the door, but she couldn't make it out properly because of the darkness. Then there were a crack and a static before the light was finally on. The corridor wasn't very long but it led to spiral staircase which surely guided to the floor under the attic. On the right and on the left, they could see four doors along with five or six wall lamps. The wallpaper was quite garish but Merritt mustn't have renovated this small shack which must have been owned by an old couple presumably deceased whose portrait was still decorating the wall, a portrait Henley had been staring at for a minute already. He opened the first door on the right which led to the living room and let his young friend laying down her daughter on the couch. Straight away she kneeled before putting down the child who lay in a fetal position, then she covered her up with a grey tartan rug she had found folded up in a corner. Henley kissed her forehead softly and stroked tenderly her little chocolate brown strands before turning back to Merritt. Then they started to talk again and kept being careful to speak in a low voice so that the girl would stay asleep.

« So … she's your daughter.

- She is. Her name is Emmeline, she's two.

- And her father is …

- Danny. »

Merritt held himself back from laughing.

« I knew it would end up that way. »

She smiled and crossed her arms on her chest.

« And where is he right now ?

- The FBI has arrested him.

- What ? What the hell for ?

- I don't know. Thanks to agent Rhodes, the charges against the Four Horsemen have already been erased a long time ago, yet … four days ago, they showed up at our appartment. I wasn't there but Danny called me. He told me to run away. When I arrived there, there were FBI agents everywhere and they were taking away a handcuffed Danny.

- Four days ago, you said ? »

It couldn't be a coincidence. A robbery reminding of the Four Horsemen time, the Feds working on it, a mysterious unknown suspect and Danny arrested on the same day ? It really didn't smell good. Henley read his anxiety in his eyes, she knew nothing about this robbery thing and was unable to help asking what was going on. Merritt started to tell her the entire story in detail. The more she heard about it, the tighter her throat was getting. She was living a nightmare. A short time ago, her life was perfectly normal, she was living with a man who loved her and her beloved daughter but now, he wasn't there anymore and she found herself forced to flee with a two-year-old child who kept asking where her father could be. However the story Merritt was telling her was going beyond everything she had thought about. She glanced with anxiety at Emmie who was peacefully sleeping very close by her. For the first time since she had seen Danny being dragged away, Henley felt the strongest fear wandered through all the cells of her skin just like current up and down her spine. Her hands began shaking, her muscles got contracted, she had difficulty breathing and very soon she believed she was about to cry. Yet she didn't. Instead, the young lady sat on the couch next to her sleeping daughter. She looked at the child's chest going up and down with the low rythm of her calm breathing, she looked at her moving eyelids and she thought it was nice to be a kid in such difficult circumstances.

Merritt left the living room and went through the corridor. He opened the very last door, the one next to the stairs. The entire room was tiled from the floor to the ceiling, without any window to light the room up. The only possible source of light was a common bulb hanged from the ceiling. He looked at the sink where the dishes were piled up, he avoided looking at the electric hotplate where three pans and about ten wooden spoons lied around – he didn't himself he had so much of them – then he glanced at the laptop he had forgotten on the small painted wooden round table. He turned it on and heard someone walking behind him. It was Henley who had come to ask if she could take something to eat since she had been unable to do it during the entire day. He showed her a cpuboard with a broken handle right above the sing in which she could find some comfort with some chocolate cookies. After she had bitten one, Henley sat on a chair in front of her friend busy researching on internet. He never told her what he was searching yet he didn't stop.

After a few minutes, Henley heard a noise from the living room. It may have been Emmie's voice after she had awoken and realized she was in an unknown place. After coming into the room whose shutters were closed, she raced to the baby girl trying to leave the couch and asked her if she had slept well. The girl said yes while rubbing harshly her eyes. They kissed each other then Merritt came back with a paper he had written some informations on before Henley had the time to think about bringing Emmie to the kitchen. When he saw that little girl whose eyes had become red from tiredness, standing there dressed with a purple tunic and black pantyhose, he smiled.

« Who's that ? the girl mumbled while pointing him.

- It's Merritt, one of daddy and mummy's friends, darling. »

He shortly waved at her and she forgot almost immediately she had asked a question. Henley opened her bad to take out a small a cuddly toy she had probably bought in an interstate rest area on the road. She gave it to her girl with a big smile full of tenderness. The toddler took it carefully then she was put on the couch again right away. Her mother asked to stay immobile as Merritt was finally explaining what he had been looking for earlier.

« When we split up five years ago, we thought we wouldn't meet again. However, one or two years ago, I've met Jack not very far from here. He was spending a week-end here with his girlfriend. Well … it doesn't matter. What I want to say is that he told me he was living in Delaware.

- So ?

- So I have found him on internet. »

He gave her the little post-it on which Jack's name and address were written.

« This is unbelievable. If the file about the Four Horsemen hadn't disappeared in such strange circumstances, all of us would be in jail right now.

- In any case, we wouldn't be able to live under our true identities. »

Henley took a look at the address she was holding like it was the last life preserver which could keep her safe.

« Federal agents won't wait to arrest us all. We must warn him and leave. Very quickly. »


	3. In-between chapter

Hello everybody !

This is a little break into the story to thank you all for your nice comments, it really pleased me ! ^^ Don't worry : I haven't forgotten you and the story at all. I was away for a month so I couldn't work on it and now that I've returned I'm going back to high school so I will be quite busy with my classes and homeworks, I truly hope I'll find some time to write. First of all, I have to find ideas to continue the story, then I have to write the chapter in French before translating it in English. It takes a lot of time. I'll do what I can but you shouldn't expect the next chapter to be out until next saturday at least. Maybe you'll have to wait longer, I'm not sure yet.

Whatever, I was really happy to read your comments and I hope you'll find the next chapter really good too. I've already started to write it … well … actually I've only written five lines. Still, I think it's going pretty well and I'm looking forward to release it soon.


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